Shapes of clay; April 1926

HAPES OF CLAY

APRIL

1926

"There lies the port: the vessel
puffs her sail."

TENNYSON

HAPES OF CLAY

Volume ii B "^ fi Number 4

APRIL' 1926

Ocean Romance in Terra^Cotta

HE thin\s of the great deep, and of those who go down into it; of its thousand isles, and of the vast con'
tinents it washes; of its receiving the mighty Plata, or Orellana, into its bosom, without disturbance, or
sense of augmentation; of Biscay swells, and the mariner

For many a day, and many a dreadful night,
Incessant labouring round the stormy Cape;

of fatal roc\s,and the "still'vexed Bermoothes"; of great whirlpools, and the water-spout; ofsun\en ships,

and sumless treasures swallowed up in the unrestoring depths; of fishes and quaint monsters; . . . of

na\ed savages, and Juan Fernandez; of pearls, and shells; of coral beds, and of

enchanted isles; of mermaids' grots —

CHARLES LAMB, IN "tHE OLD MARGATE HOy"

TO render ocean romance in terms of architecture, to borrow the
magic of far'away islands for the ornament of a great building —
this is perhaps a little more than was attempted even by those
great architects -who built for the Venetian lords of commerce when the
Bride of the Adriatic was mistress of the seas. But it is exadtly -what Messrs.
Bliss 6? Faville, the architects, attempted — and successfully achieved —
when called upon to design a San Francisco office building as headquarters
for the Matson Navigation Company. Planned in all the dignified pracfti'
cality of business, the Matson Building was ornamented in a poetical glow
of imagination, for all the world as though the architects had in mind Charles
Lamb's description, given above, of what a boy thinks about when he sees

SHAPES OF CLAY

the ocean for the first time. One will not find anywhere a happier use of
symbolism in the service of business than is illustrated in this skyscraper.

The Matson Building stands at the southwest corner of Main and Mar'
ket streets, halving that block of San Francisco's principal thoroughfare
running from Main Street to Beale with the skyscraper of the Pacific Gas
6? Eledtric Company. It is a class'A steel'frame building clothed entirely
in terra'cotta, and with reinforced concrete floors. It rises in solid strength
for fifteen stories; the top story is surmounted by a rest'room for employ
ees, and this in turn by a tower from whose gently pitched roof a lantern
springs still farther into the sky. The architedrure is Italian Renaissance
adapted to office-building requirements in the happiest manner of Bliss &?
Faville, the architects. Lindgren &? Swinerton Inc. were the general con-
tradtors.

The Matson Navigation Company is officed on the ground floor. Most
of the tenants of the building are commercial houses allied to this great
shipping company by interests in the Hawaiian Islands, notably certain
sugar corporations.

The structure analy2;es simply into base, shaft, and ornamental top. The
base is three stories high, the feature of its Market'street facade being a
centered entranceway. The plain shaft comprises nine stories. The orna-
mental top is of three stories. The tower (which houses a powerful search-
light) consists of two closed stories and a belvedere, and the lantern takes
the form of a round temple in miniature.

From the outset of their studies the architects were determined to sym-
boli2,e the ownership and use of the building in color as well as in form.
They concluded that this could best be accomplished by the use of terra-
cotta; so the building was designed in and for terra-cotta, with the special
adaptabilities of terra-cotta always in mind. This fadt not only gives the
building a special technical significance, but also accounts for its outstand-
ing success as a work of art.

The entire facing is enameled terra-cotta of a w^arm gray color, while
the piers and the ornamental features are in polychrome terra-cotta, with
a background color reminiscent of the green of the sea. All the terra-cotta

OCEAN ROMANCE IN TERRA-COTTA

was manufadlured at the Lincoln plant of Gladding, McBean & Co. Sea'
green recurs in the gla2;e of the Cordova tile that roofs the tower. This
tile is also from the kilns of Gladding, McBean 6? Co.

In the Ionic columns that distinguish the base of the building the archi'
tedts departed from hidebound classic precedent and added a touch of
real design by adapting the characteristic symbolism of the building to
Greek form. The conventional Ionic base was not so much modified as dis'
carded in a successful quest for special beauty ; "while the nautical "cordage"
motive that is elsewhere prominent in the ornament was introduced into
the capitals, the Ionic volute becoming, quite naturally, a coiled rope. These
columns were very specially designed for terra'cotta rendition, the flutes
being so arranged that the vertical joints necessary in columns of so great
a diameter are completely hidden.

The central ornament of the Market'Street facade is a cartouche sur'
mounted by a Viking ship with bellying sail, reminding the passer'by that
Captain Matson,who created this great navigation company, was of Norse
blood. The one touch of realism is found in the little panels showing acftual
steamships of the Matson fleet. The other elements of the ornament are
symbolical — rope mouldings and anchors, the trident of Neptune, the doh
phin with its rich mythological allusiveness, the cockleshell and the star'
fish.

This symbolism is lavishly expended on the frie2;e that tops the main
shaft. The arched Florentine windovs^s of the upper stories, like the coh
umns of the base, constitute an essentially terra'Cotta feature; they could
be rendered properly in no other material. In the heads of these windows
the starfish is featured. To crown all, the cornice, in addition to other or'
nament, carries acroteria, consisting of large sea'shells.

While the romance of the sea and of ships was translated into archi'
tecftural beauty in this building, there was no sacrifice of utility; indeed,
the investiture of the building in terra'Cotta would have been out of the
question had not this most plastic of materials met the requirements of a
building projedt that was basically utilitarian. Business builds beautifully
nowadays, but it builds nevertheless with keen appreciation of the eco'

I ' Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss 6? Faville, Architects

This sky-scraper in lower Market Street, styled in a modern adaptation of Italian Renaissance,

was designed in and for terra-cotta, the architec!ts regarding that plastic material as

most suitable to their interpretation of a business linked to ocean romance.

II ' Matson Building, San Francisco

1 ^*jm^
Bliss 6s? Faville, Architeds

Dominating the Market-street fagade is the entranceway saliently accented in polychrome terra-
cotta with ornament symboHc of the sea. Worthy of special note are the coiled ropes
that form the volutes of the Ionic columns, and the rope mouldings of the piers.

SHAPES OF CLAY

nomic fadtor. Terra'cotta is coming more and more to speak for American
business when American business seeks architedtural expression, because
terra'Cotta joins beauty to utility. Of course, the fadt that terra'Cotta pos'
sesses unique advantages as a building material is not lost upon our busi'
ness leaders, who are never slow to consult the advertising as well as the
financial proprieties. Mr. Walter D. Bliss perhaps alluded to this consider'
ation when he said:

"The particular use of terra'COtta that is illustrated in the Matson Build'
ing is peculiar to America. It was made possible when Gladding, McBean
6? Co. gave us these terra-cotta pieces, which are so much larger and
straighter than any previously manufactured."

THERE is great scope for architecture in America if architects express themselves in the language of their
own times, for no advance can be made by the mere reproduction of ancient buildings. , . . The great
historic styles must of course be well studied, not only for the outward forms and features, but also for the
principles of construction on which they are founded, much m the same way as the standard literature of
the past lays the foundation of good literary style. Thus will the architect produce buildings reflecting the
hopes, needs, and aspirations of his age and generation. American architects . . . have already advanced
rapidly along new lines of adapted design, and have, in their various buildings, displayed that peculiar
American freedom of character and outloo\ which enables them unconsciously to cut their way straight to
the particular types of design most suitable for the wide variety of purposes . . . of
the up'to'date and untrammelled citizens of America.

SIR BANISTER FLETCHER

EDITORIAL COMMENT

SHAPES OF CLAY

Published by Gladding, McBean ^ Co.

General OfBce: 660 Market Street

San Francisco

©

Edward F. O'Day, Editor

Vol. II April, 1926

No. 4

"ALL the elements
combine, every
principle of the un'
iverse is adtive, to
crumble the sculp'
tor's statue into
dust.Heatandcold,
water, air, and fire,
each in turn be-
comes assailer; and
whether the image
be of marble or gold ,
of that bron2,e, the
composition of
which is now a se-
cret in the keeping
of the past, or of
the facile clay, ever
ready to the modeler's hand, — the period
must at length be reached, when that im-
age shall have ceased to exist."

When Edward Pollock, San Francis-
co's first poet, wrote these lines in 1854
he expressed a not uncommon thought
which lent itself admirably to rhetorical
treatment, but which could not, even

then, stand the test of the known fadts.
Today, with archeologists digging in all
parts of the ancient world, and uncover-
ing amazing treasures, the statement has
a very old-fashioned sound.

Here, for instance, is Italian treasure-
trove of recent discovery, a statue in that
"facile clay" which Pollock sadly con-
signed with marble, gold, and bron7;e to
the devouring tooth of time. It is a statue
of Apollo, larger than life-size, done in
terra-cotta, and it was unearthed not
long since at the Etruscan town of Veii
in the Campagna, some ten miles north
of Rome.

Veii was the most powerful of Etrus-
can cities when Rome -was just starting
on the road to greatness. Veii waged four-
teen separate wars with Rome, but was
finally conquered in the fifth century b.c.
by the mighty Camillus. According to
Stanley Casson, writing in the April is-
sue of the Journal of the American Insti-
tute of Architects (through whose cour-
tesy the photograph is reproduced here ),
this terra-cotta statue belongs to the
sixth century b. c, when Etruscan art
was under strong Greek influence. It is
conjectured to have been the work of a
Veiian sculptor named Vulca, designed
as part of a group ornamenting a great
temple. The temple itself has entirely
disappeared.

Note the state of preservation in which
this large terra-cotta statue remains after
somewhat more than twenty-four hun-
dred years of life.

7

Ill ' Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss &? Favillh, ArchiteAs

The warm gray of the enameled terra-cotta, used in ashlar and column, does not overassert itself against the sea'green

of the polychrome in which all the ornament of this great steamship

headquarters is rendered.

IV ' Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss 6? Faville, Architects

Bold rustication distinguishes the plain nincstory shaft to which the eye mounts from the ornamental base three stories

high, not realizing in passing that these great columns of terra'cotta have vertical

joints that craftsmanship made imperceptible.

V ' Matson Building, San Francisco Bliss &? Faville, Architcds

Viking ship, cartouche, shields with anchor device flanking the name-panel supported by steamers in miniature, dolphins

and cockle-shells - in all of which the architects found the sea-glamour they sought—

were done in terra-cotta at the Lincoln kilns.

VI ' Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss fe? Faville, Architects

The Florentine -windows of the top stories have been done in all the exquisite plasticity of the architects' drawings be'

cause they were not merely executed in terra-cotta, but were actually conceived

in that medium of splendid adaptability.

VII • Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss &? Faville, Architects

Above the rich cornice and the sea'shell acroteria of the fifteenth story rise the tower and lantern to claim for this

building with terra-cotta eloquence a place in the sun and the illuminated night

of San Francisco's fascinating sky-line.

VIII ' Matson Building, San Francisco

Bliss fer" Faville, Architects

The poet who "saw in sleep old palaces and towers" would find his vision reaHzed in this belvedere of enameled and

polychrome terra'cotta topped by a gently pitched roof of green Cordova tile,

all from Gladding, McBean &? Co. kilns.

GLADDING, McBEAN 6? CO.
Founded 1875

LOS ANGELES PRESSED BRICK COMPANY
Founded 1887

San Francisco Office, 660 Market Street

Los Angeles Office, 621 South Hope Street

Portland Office, United States National Bank Building

Seattle Office, Dexter Horton Building

San Francisco Sales Yard, 445 Ninth Street

Oakland Office and Sales Yard, Twentysecond and Market Streets

Fresno Office and Sales Yard, San Joaquin Materials Co., 744 G Street

WORKS

Lincoln Plant: Lincoln, Placer County, California

Tropico Plant: Glendale, Los Angeles County, California

Los Angeles Plant: College and Date Streets, Los Angeles, California

Santa Monica Plant: Santa Monica, California

Alberhill Plant: Alber hill. Riverside County, California

Northern Clay Plant: Auburn, Washington

*

Terra'Cotta ' Roofing Tile

Face Brick ' Enameled Brick: Bric\for buildings and mantels

Faience and Quarry Tile: Tile, glazed and unglazed,
for floors, walls, bathrooms, terraces, and mantels

Vitrified Salt Glazed Pipe: For sewage, drainage, and irrigation:

Conduit pipe, culvert pipe, drain tile, grease traps,

flush tan\s, segmental sewer hloc\s

Hollow Clay Tile: For partitions and bearing walls

Fire'Clay Chimney Pipe: Chimney tops, flue linings, gas flues

Fire Brick and Fire Tile: Fire clay, fire'bric\ dust

Laundry Trays, Kitchen Sinks

Garden Pottery and Furniture: Vases, benches, urns,
fountains, pedestals, sun dials, and bird baths

This entranceway to the Children's Hospital,

San Francisco, was designed by Bliss 6? Faville, architects. It was

executed in polychrome terra'cotta of the Delia Robia

type at the Lincoln (Placer County) kilns.

Gladding, McBean €s? Co.

Printed by Taylor & Tay/or, San Francisco